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Catalyst Puebla Mexico Team Music Video

Catalyst Mexico Team Updates Friday and Saturday

Catalyst Missions Puebla, Mexico Team Update Saturday July, 24, 2010 The Catalyst US Office had an update from the mission team leader Kris Rickert this morning. The team is en route to the Mexico City airport..all is well and all are safe. Keep the team in your prayers as they travel back to the US this afternoon! Catalyst Missions Puebla Mexico Missions Update Friday, July 23, 2010 Kris Rickert, team leader, called the US office today with a timely update about the team. First, all the team is healthy and safe, and everyone is enjoying great ministry opportunities working with Esperanza Viva Orphanage. The team will begin the return journey on Saturday to the states. Pray for continued safety in these travels. Due to technical difficulties in Mexico, the team has not been able to post to the blog sites as often as they had planned. Thanks for your patience as technical problems are often amplified in mission environments. Look soon for great stories and reports from Catalyst Mexico volunteers at this blog soon.

Prayer List for the Catalyst Puebla Mexico Team

The team will be leaving Saturday morning. Here are some things that you can pray for.

Travel

    * Luggage and belongings not lost, stolen or broken
    * Protection of tickets, credit cards, passports and money.
    * Pass through customs without problems.
    * No mechanical problems with planes and other vehicles.

Health and Safety

    * Protection from accidents, crime, natural disaster, terrorists and dangerous animals.
    * Protection from sickness: cholera, AIDS, Hepatitis, Typhoid, Dengue Fever, Yellow Fever, Malaria, food poisoning and all the illness and diseases everyone else experiences.
    * Find time for sleep and exercise
    * Provided with safe food and water
    * Protected from drastic climate changes

Spiritual

    * Good times of intimacy with Jesus in the Bible and prayer
    * God’s protection from demonic attack
    * Protection from discouragement, fear, doubt and curses
    * Demonstrate purity, humility, boldness, wisdom, patience, love for people, teachable spirit and the power of the Holy Spirit
    * People come to Christ and be equipped for ministry

Team

    * Express unity, love, good communication, patience and spiritual gifts
    * Resist jealousy, envy, bitterness and pride
    * Grace for cultural adjustments, dealing with jet lag, being away from family and friends and lack of privacy

Long Term

    * Spiritual growth
    * Changed lives
    * Long term commitment to and involvement in world evangelism

Verses to Pray

    * Exodus 4:12; 33:1`4
    * Psalms 4:8; 19:14; 121:1-8
    * Isaiah 40:29-31; 55:10-11
    * Zechariah 4:6
    * Acts  1:8; 4:29-30
    * Ephesians 3:16-20; 6:10-20

Finishing Up a Great Week

1/7/2010 7pm CST

This morning the team went out to the Paradise barrio. The name is very incongruous as this is one of the poorest areas that Chosen Children works at. The team went door to door into the village inviting the children to the sports activities and Bible lesson. During this time circulating through the many small huts at least one person prayed to accept Jesus. We are very thankful for this decision and are very encouraged that there are believers who will be able to walk along side this new Christ follower.

After everyone assembled the team coordinated games and activities for all the children. It is so fun to watch all the kids running around playing ball with a bunch of team members. It really is true that a smile supersedes cultures and language barriers. After the games the team presented a Bible lesson.

In the afternoon the team went to the Marvin barrio and again did the sports outreach and Bible lesson. This location is a new location for this type of outreach. Pray that the seeds of God’s Word would settle on fertile soil.

Tomorrow is the team’s last full day in the country. They plan to have some fun and visit some of the sights around Managua. This may include seeing the volcano, riding a zip line and visiting the market. The week has been very full of activity and ministry. Pray for safety and an enjoyable time for them as they close up their time and absorb all that they have witnessed God accomplish through and around them.

Saturday they will get up, have their final in-country debrief meetings and prepare to fly back to the US. Pray for safety in travel and good connections as they fly back to Los Angeles, Nashville, Chicago, and Atlanta. Pray for the team as they re-enter their “normal” lives back here. Pray that they won’t soon forget what God has done in their hearts.

A Top Notch Experience

1/6/2010 4:30pm CST

The team spent time at the Chosen children orphanage in Juigalpa today. The time with the children there was very good. The team members are doing well and their spirits and team unity is very good. They are a great group of young adults having a wonderful time experiencing God at work in a different part of the world. What a wonderful snapshot of why Catalyst exists.

Catalyst Nicaragua Team Activity

Tuesday 01/05/2010 1:30pmCST

Sunday morning the team went to the Emmanuel barrio. There they attended church at the assistant pastor’s house. It was PACKED. After that the team did a bible club with the kids. Kara & Greer led the bible lesson on Mark chapter 5 with the barrio children.

After that the team took a break for lunch and on the way back to the barrio DJ was praying about talking to the kids again. He felt like God wanted them to walk the group through a Spanish Gospel tract. Upon returning to the village they did that and eight children asked to pray. What an exciting opportunity to have these eight children pray to accept Christ. We are very thankful for this and are excited to be able to connect them to the pastors that are nearby for follow-up. After the lesson with the children the team was able to give out some bread and juice to all the children.

Monday morning the team took a three hour drive on the Chose Children bus to get up to Leon. They unloaded their stuff at the base, had lunch, and went right out to the Miracle of God barrio. (A Catalyst team had worked there in January of 2008.) The team unpacked and began to do some sports and the kids just joined right in. After some soccer and baseball the team did their Bible message. This time Doug, Ashley, and Will lead the lesson. After the presentation eight children raised their hands and said they wanted to talk with someone and pray to accept Jesus.

Another exciting day and we’re so thankful for the health and safety of the team. God is at work in the hearts of the people here. We are so pleased to be a small part of what He is doing in the lives of people. The pastors and believers scattered throughout all these villages are the ones that share Christ’s love with their neighbors day in and day out. Our part is coming to encourage them and share Jesus while were among them. After a long day the team had the opportunity to go into the city of Leon and have some ice-cream. It was a nice treat!

Tuesday morning the team loaded up and went to the Telica barrio. This time the split into four groups with the Chosen Children personnel and did some door to door visits. They met people and told them about the sports opportunity and that they would be talking about God and teaching any kids that came some Bible stories.

Once the kids showed up they did some activities and Jenny, Paij, and Natalie led the Bible lesson. This time thirteen children wanted to pray about receiving Jesus. Another exciting thing that happened here was that Paij was able to use her Spanish to talk with several of the parents. This is exciting because most of the time there isn’t significant opportunity to talk with the adults when working with the children.

This afternoon the team was planning to head out towards the west coast of Nicaragua. They plan to work in the Salinas Grande barrio. There is a great group of believers there and a wonderful little church. They anticipate about 100 kids at this location, which has been a great spot for ministry for previous Catalyst teams.

Wednesday the team plans to head South, back to Managua. From there they want to visit the Chosen Children orphanage in Juigalpa. Some of the team members sponsor children at the orphanage and have been there before.

The plan for Thursday is to visit an especially needy location ironically called Paradise. Here the poverty and physical need is particularly palpable. Pray for the team as they enter this situation Pray that Jesus love will flow through them to the people that they encounter. Pray that God will impact them with the global need for people to know Him. Pray that they will understand how blessed we are in America.